Possibly the biggest thing to avoid in B2B marketing is also one of the most tempting things to do: targeting everyone. Now as appealing as getting as many leads as possible is, it could actually be more damaging than helpful to your marketing strategy. Firstly, if you try and target everyone with your campaigns, they will end up being very generalised and lack depth. This means leads will be less likely to be interested. Furthermore, when trying to target everyone, you’ll find yourself unable to personalise any aspect of your marketing. Personalisation is what carries leads all the way through to loyal clients, as they want to know why you are the company for them individually. So focus on cultivating a specific, relevant target audience that matches and will be interested in your brand – those are the people you want to impress.
Now once you’ve got those leads generating, the next crucial thing to avoid is lack of communication. You can’t just invite someone into your house and leave them there, you have to keep talking to them. Maintaining communication is how you build loyalty with your clients and continue creating great campaigns with them. Communication is also a great way of drawing in leads as well, don’t forget. When designing a campaign, make sure to factor in check up emails, calls or both to really make them feel seen and attended to.
Speaking of communication, this faux pas is one that has become even more important in recent years. Staying to old marketing platforms. Now I’m not saying that physical marketing, email marketing and cold calling are on their way out, quite the opposite in fact as they remain just as popular as they used to be. No, what I’m saying is that it would be a truly costly mistake to not start adopting newer platforms such as social media, video and interactive web experiences to help your marketing strategy. Whilst your target audience will likely remain the same depending on your brand, it’s crucial to note that whilst they may stay the same, the world won’t. More and more people are finding themselves on the internet, with sites such as LinkedIn becoming one of the biggest B2B forums out there. Not evolving your strategies to encompass this ever growing change will leave you leagues behind other agencies, and might lead to you not getting noticed by nearly as many people.
Now the last B2B rule that you should follow at all costs, and arguably the most important, is not to forget to focus on yourself. Now I don’t mean you personally, but your company and it’s presence. Whilst focusing on the perfect campaign/ project for your client should be your priority, don’t forget about your own brand presence and projects. There’s no point in focusing on others if you’re letting yourself fall behind with outdated websites and marketing, after all, plenty of people still judge a book by its cover, so making yourself look good will never be a bad thing. Think about rebranding your website (whilst maintaining your core values) with updated visuals and tone. Maybe think about setting aside a budget for your own social media pages and paid advertising. Don’t forget to maintain your own email contact lists and send out regular newsletters so that you ensure you stay relevant and top of everybody’s inbox. A blog is also a perfect way to regularly churn out great content that will pull in interest in your brand. In conclusion, when marketing for other people, don’t forget to market yourself too.
So there you have it, some (but nowhere near all) of the most important rules and things to avoid in B2B marketing. If there’s anything I’ve learned in B2B, it’s that you can be a risk taker without being a rule breaker.
